'Yotes Notes: Arizona Gets Secondary Scoring in Loss to Islanders

Anthony Duclair, Mario Kempe and Nick Cousins notched goals in 5-3 loss to New York on Tuesday

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- For those trying to mine a positive from yet another defeat, consider the following:

The Coyotes have been waiting for forwards slated lower on the depth chart to start chipping in more goals this season. Three of them did so on Tuesday night in a 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders at Barclays Center.

Anthony Duclair, Mario Kempe and Nick Cousins provided the offense for Arizona, which dropped to 0-8-1 to start the season.

"It's nice to contribute, at the same time it's about the team," said Cousins, who scored his first goal with the Coyotes at 8:57 of the third period to tie the score 3-3. "We're not getting many wins right now. Secondary scoring, if you want to win in this league, is what you need ... Hopefully we can build off that and stop relying on our top line to carry the offense."

The Coyotes dominated the first period, and were tied with New York with a little more than seven minutes left in the game. The Islanders pulled away by scoring twice down the stretch.

"It's really frustrating," Cousins said. "I think we're really fragile right now, especially in third periods. It's 3-3 with seven minutes left, they score. To win in this league, you've got to play 60 minutes, not 53. So, back to the drawing board again. I think guys in this room are pretty sick of losing."

• Head Coach Rick Tocchet was not pleased with the way the Coyotes defended Islanders captain John Tavares, who notched four points in the game, including a hat trick.

"When you go against Johnny Tavares, he's a hell of a player, so you've got to get his stick," Tocchet said. "If you're near him, get his stick, because if you don't, it's going to be in your net."

• Tocchet also spoke succinctly when asked about the performance of goalie Louis Domingue, who allowed five goals on 25 shots.

"We're looking for saves," Tocchet said. "Not to blame him, but there's critical times when we need that save."

• Rookie Clayton Keller assisted on two of Arizona's three goals to raise his point total to 10 in nine games.

• Kempe is a 29-year-old rookie in the NHL patiently waiting to experience a victory for the first time.

"We've got to stay professional and work hard in practices," Kempe said. "Eventually we're going to get a win. We're getting closer to a win every day. All teams have bad streaks and we've got to make sure this is our bad streak, and when we get back from it we've got to play hard ... It's frustrating to lose. We all want to win. We're all winners in here."

• Arizona out-shot New York, 35-25, and out-hit the Islanders, 21-16. The Coyotes also were the better team in the face-off circles winning 55 percent of the draws. Derek Stepan won 17 of 29 and Brad Richardson won nine of 11.

• Alex Goligoski wore the rotating third 'A.' Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Niklas Hjalmarsson are wearing the 'A' on a permanent basis this season.